David Cameron has outlined the scale of his ambition to transform the terms of Britain's membership of the EU by calling for the UK to be exempted from its founding principle: the creation of an ever-closer union.
In his long-awaited speech on the EU, the prime minister cast himself as a modern-day heretic as he pledged to challenge established thinking.
Speaking at the London headquarters of Bloomberg, Cameron confirmed plans to hold an in-out referendum after the next election but warned: "The biggest danger to the European Union comes not from those who advocate change, but from those who denounce new thinking as heresy. In its long history Europe has experience of heretics who turned out to have a point."
The prime minister said that nothing would be off the table when he puts forward demands for the repatriation of a series of powers to Britain if he wins the 2015 general election. A new settlement would then be put to voters in a referendum by the end of 2017.
"I believe in confronting this issue – shaping it, leading the debate. Not simply hoping a difficult situation will go away," he said.
The prime minister concluded by saying that he would campaign with all his "heart and soul" for Britain to remain in the EU if he succeeds in renegotiating its membership terms. "When the referendum comes, let me say now that if we can negotiate such an arrangement, I will campaign for it with all my heart and soul," he said.
But Cameron declined to be drawn on whether he would campaign for a no vote if he failed to secure changes in the negotiations. Read on and comment » | Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Wednesday, January 23, 2013
My comment:
The Conservatives under David Cameron are playing fast and loose with our future. They dream of re-creating England's past glory. But it's never going to happen, of course. It is becoming ever-clearer now that David Cameron is truly out of his depth. He is a man with little foresight, and still less charisma. If he thinks he is going to move the Europeans over to his way of thinking, he's got another think coming.
The way things are going, the Europeans will soon be telling us to "get on our bikes." Then the UK will find itself truly isolated: it won't have any pull at the top tables in Europe, and the Americans will shun us because we won't have any bargaining power there. Nice one, Dave!
I am old enough to remember a time when the UK was not in Europe; I am old enough to remember the referendum which took us into the club. Although it wasn't stated, anyone with any political savvy knew in his heart of hearts that it would lead to an ever-closer union. It wasn't rocket science. Further, I can add that the UK was an infinitely poorer place to live in. The selection of goods in the shops was as nothing by comparison with what we have today in the way of variety of continental foodstuffs. If you wanted continental foods, you'd have to travel to your nearest large town or city and pay a visit to the expensive, exclusive delicatessen to buy them, and even then the selection was severely limited by comparison with today. If you wanted to travel in Europe, you'd need your papers for different countries; if you were taken ill abroad, you wouldn't have access to local health services; if you wanted to work in a European country, you'd have to go through a great deal of red-tape (if it was even possible at all).
If this is the scenario that cast-iron Dave wants to re-create, then the man is a fool. It's a great shame that he isn't a little bit older. If he were, he'd be able to remember the status quo ante. It would do him a lot of good to have some idea of it. – © Mark
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